Rise of Vader's Empire
by MissiriKoharehn
Summary: Prequel to "Vader's Empire". Collection of separate stories about the time between Anakin's fall and 10 years after, all set in the "Vader's Empire" AU.
1. Discovering Marek pt1

_A/N: This was originally part of "Vader's Empire". I highly recommend that you at least read the prologue of that to understand what'll be going on in this AU._

 _These flashback chapters once appeared every other chapter in "Vader's Empire". However, I've decided to separate them, a main reason being that Part 1 of "Vader's Empire" is nearly complete and there's not nearly enough room for all the backstory ideas I have._

 _So, this "story" will mostly consist of separate stories (not in chronological order) that take up anywhere from one to four chapters. They are all set before "Vader's Empire", and after the "death" of Anakin._

 _They will mostly be very short at first, since they made up ~2/3 of the original chapters in "Vader's Empire". I'm not sure if they'll get longer later; I might just decide to keep them this length._

 _Anyways: Disclaimer stuff... Star Wars is Disney's... And the following scene is mostly taken from The Force Unleashed game, presumably owned by LucasArts? I'm not actually sure *_*_

* * *

 _8 years ago_

Darth Vader strode out of the shuttle, black cloak billowing out behind him and shadowy hood obscuring his face, with dramatic imperial march music playing in the background... er... nevermind. His destination was clear: the spies had located another Jedi on this planet of Kashyyyk. He could sense their location in the Force. He ignored a random Imperial officer's reports on the war on Kashyyyk, telling him he didn't care about the officer's failures and that he was here on a different matter, Force-choking the man to emphasize his point.

Before long, he reached a shabby hut of a house. The Jedi stepped out to meet him. They fought; the Jedi was disappointingly weak. _Then what is that bright presence I sense?_ He wondered.

The Jedi was nearly finished now. Vader slammed him around with the Force effortlessly, ending with the Jedi flying into his own house.

"I sense someone far more powerful than you nearby. Where is your master?" The Dark Lord demanded, Force choking him.

"The Dark Side has clouded your mind, traitor. You killed my master years ago!" He gasped out.

"Then now you will share his fate!" He raised his sabre, ready to make the final strike...

When he suddenly found himself empty handed, the sabre snatched out of his hand with the Force. He looked behind him. "A son," he realized aloud.

The boy, who seemed around the age of 10, raised the sabre threateningly. "Let my father go!"

"No, Galen!" The older Marek yelled, "Run!"

They were his last words. His distraction cost him, and Vader snapped his neck with the Force, letting the body crumple to the ground.

"No!" The boy yelled, swinging the stolen sabre at the Sith.

Just then, the Imperial officer from earlier arrived on the scene with a few stormtroopers. Seeing Lord Vader in "danger", he motioned for his men to fire on the boy.

Surprisingly, the boy-Galen-managed to block most of the blaster shots, before Vader decided that was enough and Force-pushed the stormtroopers to the ground. He took back his lightsaber with the Force, and killed them all-he wanted no witnesses. No one will know about this boy, so powerful in the Force... _Starkiller. He will be known as Starkiller, and he will assist me in taking down the Emperor..._


	2. Discovering Marek pt2

Darth Vader had been expecting resistance, so it came as no surprise to him when the boy tried to run. He restrained him easily with the aid of the Force.

They were making their way back to Vader's shuttle, and leave the planet. Galen clearly had different ideas, but even someone as young as him could tell it was pointless to struggle against the tall, cloaked figure, even if he had killed his father just moments ago. And then he'd saved him—but why?

"Where are we going?" He finally asked.

"We are leaving this planet. War will be here soon."

They walked in silence for a few moments, but not for long when there was a curious child bursting with questions but afraid to ask them.

"Why? Why did you... why did you do it? Why aren't you killing me too?" he asked, his voice too bitter for a ten year old, too innocent to be asking such questions.

"Your father was a Jedi. Surely you knew that they are traitors and enemies of the Empire." Vader replied, avoiding the second question. The boy didn't need to know about his true purposes yet. That would be revealed in due time.

"You killed him." They had reached the shuttle, and were getting on board now, ready to leave. "I _hate_ you," he choked out, tears finally starting to fall.

"Many people do," the Sith replied, almost monotonously. Galen could not see his face. He seemed completely passive about the accusation.

Vader knew that it would take a while until he convinced the boy that his father and the Jedi were bad, and the Empire good—except the Emperor, of course. Soon, when the boy realizes his own power... Vader would have to make sure that _he_ is not the target for his Dark Side fueling hatred.


	3. Apprentice

_A/N: I don't really like this chapter. I didn't even want to write it anymore, but I had posted a different version and I didn't want to abandon the idea. So, here it is. For any that read the story before, yes, I have decided to skip the fight altogether._

* * *

 _2 years ago_

He had done it. It was finally done. Over. Finished. He was free now.

He had done it.

(Technically, _they_ had done it, but he pushed that thought from his mind.)

 _He_ had done it, himself. He had finally done it... he finally killed his master, freed himself; he was no longer a slave and never will be.

Darth Sidious, easily one of the most powerful Sith the galaxy ever knew. He had defeated him, killed him. Did that mean he had fulfilled the prophecy?, he wondered suddenly. The prophecy of the Chosen One. He was to bring balance to the Force. Had he now brought balance by evening the scales? No Light, but less Dark as well. Yet he himself was still firmly on the Dark Side, with an apprentice of his own to carry on the Sith line.

...Darth Sidious—who was also Emperor Palpatine.

The Emperor of the Galactic Empire, who had a whole legion of a couple hundred Royal Guards undyingly loyal to him.

This fight wasn't over yet.

But for now... the doors will hold. There was something important he needed to do first.

"Starkiller".

The 16-year-old kneeled in front of him. "Yes, my master."

It was interesting how the tables had turned. Now he was the master, the Sith Master, gazing down at his apprentice. Never would he kneel to anyone again.

"Your training is nearly complete. You have proved your strength and power in this battle. I now declare you my Apprentice, to continue the Bane's line of Sith and the Rule of Two. You are now a Dark Lord of the Sith. I bestow upon you the title of Darth, Darth Starkiller. Rise, my apprentice."

The young teen's shock and surprise leaked through his mental shields as he stood up, trying to keep his face blank, but his master could feel it in the Force, and he was pleased. This boy was powerful, and worthy of the titles and ranks he had given him. His affinity with the Force was truly amazing, and the Dark Side served him well.

"Thank you... my Master," Lord Starkiller replied at last, daring to look up into Darth Vader's Sith-yellow eyes, meeting his gaze.

Vader held the gaze for a moment, then turned his attention to the durasteel doors, which were being blasted down and destroyed by innumerous Red Guards.

"There will be time for gratitude later. Now, we must take down the enemies that still await."

* * *

 _A/N: It's rather short, but like I said, I didn't like this idea so much anymore._

 _You may have noticed that Vader and Starkiller's relationship is slightly different than canon. In my opinion Vader is rather fond of Starkiller, like one might be fond of their most precious possession, because of his power and potential. Also I really just can't imagine Vader treating anyone like a slave, because of his past. He might be extremely harsh and kill his own men, but that's only because of incompetence._

 _There will be another oneshot further showing the relationship between Vader and Starkiller. But not the next one._

 _The next one will be... the meeting of... Starkiller and... *drumroll* Juno Eclipse!_


	4. Juno Eclipse

When he first met her, he'd been Supreme Commander for less than a standard week. She, on the other hand, had been commander of Black Eight Squadron for quite some time longer, though still not too long; she had gained the position a few months ago.

Everything that Vader had had as Supreme Commander was to be transferred to Starkiller now, and that included his elite squadron of TIE fighter pilots. There was a small meeting, just him and the commander, to let her know about the power shift. She would be serving under and reporting to Lord Starkiller now.

That would only last for a few more months, before Emperor Vader told Starkiller to choose a new pilot for the _Rogue Shadow_. He was the Supreme Commander; he had the entire Imperial Navy to choose from.

Starkiller may be Second in Command now, but he was still an apprentice. His training, while nearly complete, was still unfinished. His master still sent him on missions sometimes, to further hone his Dark Side abilities and powers. And, as with before the power shift, he was to practise his Force and lightsabre skills during the flights, with someone else to focus on the flying.

Choosing his own pilot was easier than it seemed. He was used to Vader making most of his decisions for him. Now that he was second in command, there were a lot of things he was in charge of making decisions for. This seemed to be one of the difficult ones.

For one, now that he was choosing, he'd have to look for good quality pilots, which meant reading through many of the pilots' files since he didn't know them as well as his master. He also spent some time meditating on the matter, for good measure.

But throughout this whole endeavor, in fact as soon as he found out he was to be choosing his own pilot, some weird little part of his mind had instantly yelled _Juno Eclipse!_ Why, he didn't understand. Which was why he ignored the voice and kept researching.

It wasn't as if he had forever. Darth Vader had given him only two standard weeks. If he hadn't chosen by then, not only would Vader be choosing for him, it would be a sign of his incompetence. He might even be punished.

A week and three days had already passed, and he had spent many long hours flipping, skimming, and sometimes actually thoroughly reading through files and reports. But every time he meditated the Force (or maybe it was just that little voice again, and he convinced himself it was the Force) told him to pick Captain Eclipse.

So he did.

* * *

When Juno found out about her reassignment, she didn't know she'd be piloting Lord Starkiller himself. She was just told to meet in a certain hanger bay at a certain time.

"Lord Starkiller? I wasn't aware tha..." she trailed off.

"Captain Eclipse; you're here. You'll be piloting the _Rogue Squadron_ when I need you. That's all you need to know." Starkiller informed her.

"Yes, my lord." She said, still slightly surprised, but it was soon wearing off, and she wasn't sure what she felt about the situation once it did. She was now personally piloting the Empire's (new) second in command, who was rumoured to only be a boy—not that she could tell, with that helmet thing he wore.

She supposed she prefered her old job by a bit, but she understood this was an honour, to be chosen for this. A few days later, on their first mission together, she would realize that it was a more dangerous job than she thought... which _definitely_ wasn't because Starkiller told her that Vader had killed the last pilot himself, and that there had been three other pilots before her.

* * *

 _A/N: As you may have noticed this is quite different from canon. Their relationship will develop differently as well. I had a different version partly written that was much closer to canon, but that would've meant Starkiller being only 15 when they meet, and that causes a multitude of problems (at least in my opinion, of how I want the story to go)._

 _Please note that I do not enjoy writing romance nor am I good at developing romantic relationships. I try. And don't give me Yoda quotes in the reviews. *_*_

 _Next chapter is already written. In fact it was written before this but I promised a Juno Eclipse chapter last chapter. It's not about Juno; in fact this is likely the only chapter you'll get about her. I'll let the readers imagine how exactly their relationship ends up developing._

 _Reviieeeww! This has no reviews so far! :(_


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